SINGAPORE: Chinas recent decision to fire missiles over Taiwan is a gorilla in the room that has to be contested, a top United States military commander said on Tuesday.

His remarks came after Beijing kicked off huge air and sea drills this month around the self-ruled island in a furious reaction to the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week and a congressional delegation earlier this week.

Those exercises, which included firing multiple ballistic missiles into waters off Taiwan, were the first that China has held since the mid-1990s.

Its very important that we contest this type of thing. I know that the gorilla in the room is launching missiles over Taiwan, US Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Karl Thomas told reporters in Singapore. If we just allow that to happen, and we dont contest that, thatll be the next norm."

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"Its irresponsible to launch missiles over Taiwan into international waters, where the shipping lanes, where free shipping operates," he said.